An EU response to Moldova?s ?Twitter Revolution?

The EU should immediately send a mediation team led by Javier Solana to settle the political crisis, Nicu Popescu recommends




Moldova is the latest country in Europe to collapse into crisis after a contested
election. Some 15.000 people, communicating through web-sites like ‘Twitter’,
took to the street to protest against unfair elections taking control of the
Parliament and Presidential Palace. The protests follow on from Georgia’s Rose revolution in 2004, Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2005, and the
killing of ten protestors against election fraud in Armenia in March 2008.

The
EU is the only political actor with the credibility to find a political
solution to the current crisis. It is Moldova’s
most important external partner: over half of Moldova’s trade is with the EU, a large
number Moldovans work in the EU, and over 70% of the population support
European integration. Javier Solana – together with the Czech and incoming Swedish
Presidencies – must immediately travel to Chisinau to launch a mediation
mission.

Background

Moldova
held parliamentary elections on 5th April. The Communist president Voronin
whose second term is about to end is bound by the Constitution to stand down.
But in the latest election, his ruling Communist party is reported to have
obtained 50% of the vote, which would give it 61 out of 101 members of
parliament. This would allow the party to consolidate its control of the
political system by electing the president, the speaker and the prime-minister.
Commentators claim that Vladimir Voronin will try to remain a de facto head a
state by taking the position of speaker of parliament.

The
election campaign was full of abuses, including the harassment of opposition
parties and media by the police and the office of the prosecutor general. However,
the election day itself seems to have taken place without major irregularities.
Unlike in Russia or Belarus all the
opposition parties were allowed to vote, and the Central Electoral Commission
was relatively impartial.

As a
result of the protests, the government cut internet access, opposition websites
were suspended, the mobile telephony network in the centre was taken off the
air, and the national public TV showed ignored the protests most of the day. Russia is currently
trying to portray the crisis as a coup d’etat staged by Western and Romanian
intelligence services, and is offering the Communist government a supporting
hand.

A Six Point Plan

The
EU should immediately send a high-level political mediation team led by Javier
Solana and the Czech and incoming Swedish Presidencies. They should try to
forge a deal between government and opposition which could include the
following elements:

  • An agreement not to use violence by all sides.

  • A full recount of the votes under the supervision of EU observers.

  • The deployment of an EU rule of law mission to Moldova with a mission to reform the Ministry of Interior and the Prosecutor General Office. These two institutions have played a prominent role in pre-electoral abuses and harassment of the opposition and the media.

  • Replacement of the minister of interior and prosecutor general who are accused of pre-electoral abuses and the harassment of the opposition and the media. The new appointees should be appointed based on a consensus between the government and opposition.

  • A series of reforms to liberalise the media by ensuring equal access to the public TV Moldova 1 by the opposition and government; regular talk-shows with government and opposition leaders; extension of the broadcasting licences of existing independent media, particularly PRO TV (the only TV channel independent from the government).

  • A renewed Government-Opposition commitment to European integration. The Government should invite a High-level EU advisory group to advise on necessary reforms of key state institutions such as the presidency, the government and key ministries.

 

The European Council on Foreign Relations does not take collective positions. ECFR publications only represent the views of their individual authors.

Author

ECFR Alumni · Director, Wider Europe programme

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